What is Fon WiFi?

There are only two types of internet. Broadband at home. And mobile internet outside. Except that’s an oversimplification these days. Homes can use mobile broadband, and you can take advantage of WiFi while out and about.

More obvious places for easily accessible out-and-about WiFi are restaurants and entertainment venues – even if you really should use a VPN when connecting to public WiFi – but the Fon WiFi network is another outdoors wireless connectivity solution that’s both clever and widespread.

Fon WiFi is effectively the biggest WiFi network in the world, which includes more than 23 million Fon Spots around the globe. ‘Fon Spots’ is the term used for WiFi hotspots that are part of the Fon WiFi network, which are a mix of private networks and a WiFi signal that’s accessible by members of the Fon WiFi network. Effectively, it’s like having a crowdsourced guest WiFi network.

In Australia, Fon WiFi is paid for with either a credit card or PayPal and is available in four varieties:

1. 1-hour Fon WiFi pass: $7.95
2. 1-day Fon WiFi pass: $10.95
3. 5x 1-day Fon WiFi passes: $24.95
4. 30-day Fon WiFi pass: $46.95

All Fon WiFi passes come with unlimited data, must be pre-purchased, and support multiple devices. Passes can be pre-purchased and used later. That pricing isn’t particularly competitive, though, so you may want to combo mobile broadband with a WiFi dongle while you’re out and about (popular picks are below).

Fon WiFi also has a partnership with Telstra in Australia. It’s called Telstra Air and is an included perk with certain Telstra plans (more on this below). Telstra also let you purchase time-based guest passes via the Telstra Air app, which have different prices compared to the Fon WiFi app:

1. 1-hour Telstra Air pass: $5
2. 1-day Telstra Air pass: $10
3. 7-day Telstra Air pass: $25
4. 30-day Telstra Air pass: $30

There are certain Fon WiFi networks around the world that offer a free trial, but those places are limited, and the trial is only for 15 minutes. The only other option for free Fon WiFi access is by using a Fon WiFi promo code, which are activated inside the Fon WiFi app.

Telstra Air is a WiFi network in Australia with more than 1 million Telstra Air hotspots and makes up Australia’s largest WiFi network. Telstra customers with eligible accounts can use Telstra Air hotspots to connect smartphones, tablets and laptops to take advantage of unlimited data. When you’re outside with your device’s WiFi on, Telstra Air can automatically connect you to the nearest hotspot.

Telstra Air is a perk for Telstra customers with at least one service on either mobile plan (Upfront only, not Prepaid), home broadband (including NBN) and mobile broadband.

Below is a list of Telstra’s mobile broadband plans (organised by popularity).

You can see all of Telstra’s most popular Upfront plans (updated daily) below.

Finally, below is a list of the five most popular Telstra NBN plans.

Part of the widespread and crowdsourced nature of the Fon WiFi network – and, in Australia, this includes Telstra Air – means that speeds aren’t necessarily the best compared to increasingly faster broadband and mobile internet alternatives.

If you’re a Telstra broadband customer, for instance, signing up to the Telstra Air perk is conditional on you allocating a portion of your home internet’s bandwidth for other Telstra Air members to use. To ensure your home internet is still sufficient for your needs, these speeds are limited to 2Mbps download, which is great for preserving the bandwidth in your home, but less great if you’re a Telstra Air user tapping into that connection while passing by.

Part of the Telstra Air network includes public payphones that have been converted into WiFi hotspots, which can reach speeds of up to 20Mbps. The best speeds come from premium locations, such as Telstra Stores, where you may get download speeds as fast as 100Mbps.

To use the Fon WiFi network in Australia, you’ll either need the free Telstra Air app or the Fon WiFi app, both of which are free to download from either the Google Play Store or the App Store. The app runs in the background and searches for compatible Fon WiFi or Telstra Air networks whenever your WiFi is on, unless you tell your device to forget the relevant network or deselect the option to connect automatically. If you’re not connecting automatically, though, you will be using mobile data instead of the Fon WiFi network.

These are the basic steps for connecting to Fon WiFi:

1. Download the Fon WiFi app from the App Store or Google Play Store.
2. Buy a pass.
3. Activate the pass when you’re ready to use it.
4. Connect automatically to a nearby Fon WiFi hotspot (or manually connect via the map).

With a single Fon WiFi account, you can connect up to three devices in most places. The same is true of Telstra Air. That said, there are restrictions for Fon WiFi overseas. Partnered hotspots in Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain are restricted to one connection per Fon WiFi account.

Use the map below to search for an area to see how many Fon WiFi hotspots it has.